Australia ready for India's spin challenge, says Steve Smith

DUBAI: Australia, it seems, are ready for a "spin trial by fire" against a rampaging India in the semifinal of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
On Monday, Australian captain Steve Smith, leading his team in the tournament in the absence of ace pacer Pat Cummins, asserted that his team was confident they would be able to tackle India's high-quality, four-pronged spinner attack in the last-four clash -- a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final, which was won by Australia in Ahmedabad.
Playing in just his second ODI, "mystery spinner" Varun Chakravarthy took five for 42 on a spin-friendly Dubai pitch to bare India's spin fangs, which are the sharpest in the competition. India's other three spinners -- Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav -- pose a big threat too.
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Asked how his team planned to nullify the dangerous Varun, Smith replied by asserting that the match would practically be decided by the winner of the battle between Australia's batters and India's spinners, which will be fought in the middle overs of Australia's innings.
"Not just Chakravarthy, I think the rest of their spin is quality as well. So I think for us, the game is probably won and lost how we play their spin, particularly in the middle overs, the way we get through there. It's going to be a challenge. I think there's going to be some spin, by the looks of it. We've got to counter that. We've got a few options of ways we can go about it," Smith told the reporters.
While they have a full-time spin options in leg-spinners Adaz Zampa and Tanveer Sangha, Smith said the Kangaroos could call upon their part-time spinners, including Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, to support Zampa and Glenn Maxwell on a track he felt "looks to be a dry surface".
"We've got a lot of part-time options that could certainly play a role here and a couple of front-liners as well," Smith said.
Smith seemed relaxed with the travel from Pakistan to Dubai to play India in the semis, playing down the whole controversy about India playing all their Champions Trophy matches at one venue.

"We guessed right in the end (whether they would play India in Dubai). We had a little reset and a chance to have a couple of days here outside of a pretty strict sort of bubble, I suppose, in Pakistan with the security and stuff. It's been nice to just have a couple of days chill here, a bit of training," Smith said.
Smith didn't agree that dashing Australian opener Travis Head would be under pressure to repeat his heroics of the 2023 ODI World Cup -- the left-hander smashed an unbeaten 137 to shape Australia's six-wicket win on that occasion, breaking millions of Indian hearts.
"I mean, there's pressure every time you play in a big game. But, as we know, Travis has stood up in many of those in the past. And, you know, he looked in great touch the other night against Afghanistan. I'm sure he's going to be looking to come out here and play the same way he's played for a long time, with good intent, good aggression," Smith said about Head, who stroked a 40-ball 59 not out against Afghanistan in an abandoned match at Lahore.